Everyone Knew Grandma Romano
For millions of TV viewers, Nanette Fabray will always be Katherine Romano, the funny, outspoken mother of Bonnie Franklin’s Ann Romano on One Day at a Time. But behind that incredible career were two absolutely terrifying moments when everything could have ended very differently.
And when we say “inches,” we mean it.
She Had Been Performing Almost Her Entire Life
Fabray was practically born into show business. She started performing professionally at just three years old, spent her childhood singing and dancing as “Baby Nan,” and eventually worked her way from vaudeville to Broadway. By the 1950s, she wasn't just successful. She was becoming one of television's brightest stars.
Marcus Blechman, Wikimedia Commons
Then Sid Caesar Came Calling
In 1954, Fabray joined Sid Caesar on Caesar's Hour. Following Imogene Coca was no easy assignment, but Fabray quickly proved she belonged. Her singing, dancing and fearless comedy made her a perfect partner for Caesar, and the show turned her into a major television star. Then, during one live broadcast in 1955, something went horribly wrong backstage.
Screenshot from Caesar’s Hour, NBCUniversal (1954-1957), enhanced
Something Came Crashing Down
Fabray was backstage heading for a costume change when a nine-foot-long, 20-pound metal pipe suddenly fell from above. Contemporary reports said it hit the floor beside her, bounced and struck her in the head with enough force to knock her unconscious. Dancer Buddy Schwab was also struck in the freak accident.
Screenshot from Caesar’s Hour, NBCUniversal (1954-1957), enhanced
Sid Caesar Was Given Horrifying News
For a few terrifying moments, nobody seemed to know exactly what had happened. Sid Caesar was reportedly initially told that Fabray hadn't survived the accident. She had. But she was badly hurt, and an ambulance rushed her from the studio to the hospital.
Screenshot from Caesar’s Hour, NBCUniversal (1954-1957), enhanced
Her Position May Have Saved Her
Here is where the story gets downright eerie. Fabray later explained that she happened to be bending over when the pipe came crashing down. Had she been standing upright, she believed it could have struck her very differently. That tiny change in position may have saved her life.
And even more eerie—this wouldn’t be the last time a few inches stood between Fabray and something far worse.
NBC Television, Wikimedia Commons
She Spent Days In The Hospital
Fabray suffered a serious concussion along with temporary problems with her vision and sensitivity to light. She remained hospitalized for almost two weeks, including further neurological observation. Somehow, after recovering, she went right back to work.
And Then She Won Three Emmys
If the accident slowed Fabray down professionally, it certainly didn't look like it. Her work on Caesar's Hour earned her three Emmy Awards, including two in 1956 alone. She had survived one of the strangest accidents imaginable and was still at the top of her game.
She Thought She Wasn't Very Smart
There was one problem Fabray didn't understand for years. She struggled in school and eventually dropped out of junior college, believing she simply wasn't very bright. The truth was completely different. Fabray had been living with an undiagnosed hearing problem that made it difficult for her to understand what people were saying.
Hollywood Didn't Stop Her
Fabray kept going anyway. By the 1940s, she was building a serious Broadway career, and in 1949 she won a Tony Award for Love Life. Then MGM came calling, putting her alongside Fred Astaire and Jack Buchanan in the 1953 musical The Band Wagon.
Screenshot from The Band Wagon, Warner Bros. Discovery (1953)
Her Hearing Was Getting Worse
Behind the success, Fabray was also dealing with worsening hearing loss caused by otosclerosis. At one point, she was told she could eventually lose her hearing entirely. The experience left her deeply insecure, and she later said the emotional toll contributed to the breakdown of her first marriage.
Michael Ochs Archives, Getty Images
She Turned It Into Something Bigger
Fabray eventually underwent a series of operations that dramatically improved her hearing. Rather than hide what she had experienced, she became a major advocate for people with hearing loss, learning sign language and working for better education, opportunities and public understanding for people with disabilities.
Screenshot from Westinghouse Playhouse, NBCUniversal (1961), enhanced
Then Came 1977
More than two decades had passed since the Caesar's Hour accident. Fabray was now in her 50s and working on the movie Harper Valley P.T.A. with Barbara Eden. Surely the days of freak accidents happening on set were behind her? Not even close.
Screenshot from Harper Valley P.T.A, April Fools Productions (1978), enhanced
There Was A Live Elephant On Set
On October 31, 1977, the production was filming a scene involving a live elephant in Los Angeles. Something spooked the animal and it suddenly bolted. Fabray was knocked to the ground, striking her head and suffering another major concussion.
South China Morning Post, Getty Images
This One Was Serious Too
Fabray was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where her condition was initially reported as serious but stable. The concussion caused neurological and vision problems, and production on Harper Valley P.T.A. shut down for weeks while she recovered.
The Movie Still Wasn't Finished
When Fabray finally returned, she still had scenes left to shoot. Fabray later recalled struggling with memory and abnormal eye movements caused by the concussion. She said the production had to carefully coach her through scenes and work around the lingering effects of the injury.
Screenshot from Harper Valley P.T.A, April Fools Productions (1978), enhanced
Somehow, She Came Back Again
Think about that for a second. Fabray had already survived a falling pipe during live television more than 20 years earlier. Now she had been knocked down by a runaway elephant and suffered another serious concussion. And once again, she eventually returned to work.
Screenshot from Harper Valley P.T.A, April Fools Productions (1978), enhanced
Then Came “One Day At A Time”
Less than two years later, Fabray joined One Day at a Time as Katherine Romano. Beginning in 1979, she appeared in 46 episodes through the show's final season in 1984, bringing a completely different generation of viewers into a career that had already stretched back more than 50 years.
Screenshot from One Day at a Time, Sony Pictures Entertainment (1975-1984), enhanced
There Was A Wonderful Family Connection
Fabray also had a real-life connection to another familiar face from the show. Shelley Fabares, who played Francine Webster, was Nanette Fabray's niece. The two would later appear together again on Coach, giving Fabray yet another memorable television chapter late in her career.
Screenshot from One Day at a Time, Sony Pictures Entertainment (1975-1984), enhanced
She Kept Going For Decades
Fabray's résumé eventually included Broadway, movies, variety television, sitcoms, game shows and appearances on everything from The Mary Tyler Moore Show to The Carol Burnett Show. Her career wasn't merely long. It stretched across completely different eras of American entertainment.
Screenshot from The Carol Burnett Show, Paramount (1967-1978), enhanced
She Made It To 97
Nanette Fabray passed away from natural causes in 2018 at the age of 97. Considering what happened backstage in 1955 and on that movie set in 1977, there is something remarkable about that number. Twice, a freak accident could have turned out very differently. Instead, she kept going.
Frederick M. Brown, Getty Images
One Seriously Lucky Lady
A metal pipe crashing down while you're bending over is strange enough for one lifetime. Getting knocked down by a runaway elephant more than 20 years later feels almost impossible. Nanette Fabray didn't just have one of television's longest careers. She may have had one of its luckiest.
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